Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

after

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

and

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany ...

and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), and lies in a string of cities sitting in the densely populated foreland of the Elster and Ore Mountains stretching from

Plauen Plauen (; Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in t ...

in the southwest via Zwickau, Chemnitz and

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

to Dresden in the northeast. From 1834 until 1952, Zwickau was the seat of the government of the south-western region of

. The name of the city is of Sorbian origin and may refer to

Svarog Svarog is a Slavic god of fire and blacksmithing, who was once interpreted as a sky god on the basis of an etymology rejected by modern scholarship. He is mentioned in only one source, the ''Primary Chronicle'', which is problematic in interpret ...

, the Slavic

god of fire This is a list of deities in fire worship. African mythology Yoruba mythology * Ogun, fire god and patron of blacksmiths, iron, warfare, metal tools * Ọya, goddess of fire, wind, transforms into buffalo, fertility * Shango, god of thunder and f ...

and of the sun. Zwickau is the seat of the West Saxon University of Zwickau (German: ''Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau'') with campuses in Zwickau,

Markneukirchen Markneukirchen () is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in Saxony, Germany, close to the Czech border. It lies in between the Erzgebirge and the Fichtelgebirge in the Elstergebirge, southeast of Plauen, and northeast of Aš (Czech Republic ...

Reichenbach im Vogtland Reichenbach im Vogtland is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district of Saxony in eastern Germany. With a population of 20,108, it is the second-largest town in the Vogtlandkreis after Plauen. It is located close to the A72 between Plauen (at c. 18& ...

and

Schneeberg (Erzgebirge) Schneeberg is a town in Saxony’s district of Erzgebirgskreis. It has roughly 16,400 inhabitants and belongs to the Town League of Silberberg (''Städtebund Silberberg''). It lies 4 km west of Aue, and southeast of Zwickau. Geography ...

. The city is the birthplace of composer

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

. As cradle of

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. ...

's forerunner

Horch Horch () was a car brand manufacturer, founded in Germany by August Horch & Cie at the beginning of the 20th century. It is one of the predecessors of the present day Audi company, which itself resulted from the merger of Auto Union Aktieng ...

and as seat of the

Sachsenring The Sachsenring () is a motorsport racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champi ...

company which produced (then still as ''VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau'')

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

's most popular car, the

Trabant Trabant () is a series of small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East German car manufacturer VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. In total, four different models were made, the Trabant 500, Trabant 600, Trabant 601, and the Tr ...

, Zwickau has historically been one of the centres of the German automotive industry, with a tradition over one hundred years old, including other car makers like

Auto Union Auto Union AG, was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today. As well as acting as an umbrella firm f ...

and

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

. The valley of the long Zwickau Mulde River stretches from the Vogtland to

Colditz Castle Castle Colditz (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the ...

at the other end. The

Silver Road The 140-kilometre-long road, the Silver Road (german: Silberstraße) is the first and longest holiday route in the German Free State of Saxony. Against the background of the importance of mining in the history of Saxony, the road links those sigh ...

, Saxony's longest tourist route, connects Dresden with Zwickau. Zwickau can be reached by car via the nearby ''

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track' ...

''s A4 and A72, the main railway station (

Zwickau Hauptbahnhof Zwickau Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station of Zwickau in the German state of Saxony. History On 18 September 1845 Zwickau was connected by a branch line to the Leipzig–Reichenbach railway line. This was followed on 11 May 1858 by the ...

), via a public airfield which takes light aircraft, and by bike along river the Zwickau Mulde River on the so-called Mulderadweg.

History

The region around Zwickau was settled by

Sorbs Sorbs ( hsb, Serbja, dsb, Serby, german: Sorben; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a indigenous West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Branden ...

as early as the 7th century AD. The name Zwickau is probably a

Germanization Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In ling ...

of the Sorbian toponym ''Šwikawa'', which derives from Svarozič, the Slavic Sun and fire god. In the 10th century, German settlers began arriving and the native Slavs were Germanized. A trading place known as ''terretorio Zcwickaw'' (in

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

) was mentioned in 1118. The settlement received a town charter in 1212, and hosted

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

and

Cistercians The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

during the 13th century. Zwickau was a

free imperial city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

from 1290 to 1323, but was subsequently granted to the

Margraviate of Meissen The Margravate of Meissen (german: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast '' Marca Geronis'' ( Sax ...

. Although regional mining began in 1316, extensive mining increased with the discovery of silver in the Schneeberg in 1470. Because of the silver ore deposits in the Erzgebirge, Zwickau developed in the 15th and 16th centuries and grew to be an important economic and cultural centre of Saxony. Its nine churches include the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church of St. Mary (1451–1536), with a spire high and a bell weighing 51

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s. The church contains an altar with wood carvings, eight paintings by

Michael Wohlgemuth Michael Wolgemut (formerly spelt ''Wohlgemuth''; 143430 November 1519) was a German painter and printmaker, who ran a workshop in Nuremberg. He is best known as having taught the young Albrecht Dürer. The importance of Wolgemut as an artist rest ...

and a

pietà The Pietà (; meaning " pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific for ...

in carved and painted wood by Peter Breuer. Zwickau Katharinenkirche

The late Gothic church of St. Catharine has an altar piece ascribed to

Lucas Cranach the elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is kno ...

, and is remembered because Thomas Müntzer was once pastor there (1520–22). The city hall was begun in 1404 and rebuilt many times since. The municipal archives include documents dating back to the 13th century. Early printed books from the Middle Ages, historical documents, letters and books are kept in the City Archives (e.g. Meister Singer volumes by Hans Sachs (1494–1576)), and in the School Library founded by scholars and by the city clerk Stephan Roth during the Reformation. In 1520

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

dedicated his treatise "On the Freedom of the Christian Man" to his friend Hermann Muehlpfort, the Lord Mayor of Zwickau. The

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

movement of 1525 began at Zwickau under the inspiration of the "

Zwickau prophets The Zwickau Prophets () were three men of the Radical Reformation from Zwickau in the Electorate of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire, who were possibly involved in a disturbance in nearby Wittenberg and its evolving Reformation in early 1522. Th ...

". After Wittenberg, it became the first city in Europe to join the

Lutheran Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. The late Gothic Gewandhaus (cloth merchants' hall), was built in 1522–24 and is now converted into a theatre. The city was seriously damaged during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

. The old city of Zwickau, perched on a hill, is surrounded by heights with extensive forests and a municipal park. Near the city are the Hartenstein area, for example, with Stein and Wolfsbrunn castles and the Prinzenhöhle cave, as well as the Auersberg peak (1019 meters) and the winter sports areas around Johanngeorgenstadt and the Vogtland. In the Old Town the Cathedral and the ''Gewandhaus'' (cloth merchants' hall) originate in the 16th century and when Schneeberg silver was traded. In the 19th century the city's economy was driven by industrial coal mining and later by automobile manufacturing. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, in 1942, a Nazi

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so ...

of the members of the Polish underground resistance organization from

Gostyń Gostyń (german: Gostyn, 1941-45: ''Gostingen'') is a town in western Poland, seat of the Gostyń County and Gmina Gostyń in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 in Leszno Voivodship). According to 30 June 2004 data its population ...

was held in Zwickau, after which 12 members were executed in

, and several dozen were imprisoned in

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as con ...

, where 37 of them died. In May 1942, five Polish students of the Salesian Oratory in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, known as the ' or five of the 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs of World War II, were imprisoned in Zwickau, before being executed in Dresden. A subcamp of the

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flo ...

was located in Zwickau, whose prisoners were mostly Poles and Russians, but also Italians, French, Hungarians, Jews, Czechs, Germans and others. On 17 April 1945, US troops entered the city. They withdrew on 30 June 1945 and handed Zwickau to the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

. Between 1944 and 2003, the city had a population of over 100,000. A major employer is

which assembles its ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5 models, as well as Audi and Cupra EV's in the Zwickau-Mosel vehicle plant.

Economic history

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R85422, Zwickau, Schacht Brückenberg I

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0315-006, Zwickau, Trabi ade

Coal mining

Coal mining is mentioned as early as 1348. However, mining on an industrial scale first started in the early 19th century. The coal mines of Zwickau and the neighbouring Oelsnitz-Lugau coalfield contributed significantly to the industrialisation of the region and the city. In 1885 Carl Wolf invented an improved gas-detecting safety mining-lamp. He held the first world patent for it. Together with his business partner Friemann he founded the "Friemann & Wolf" factory. Coal mining ceased in 1978. About 230 million tonnes had been mined to a depth of over 1,000 metres. In 1992 Zwickau's last coke oven plant was closed. Many industrial branches developed in the city in the wake of the coal mining industry: mining equipment, iron and steel works, textile, machinery in addition to chemical, porcelain, paper, glass, dyestuffs, wire goods, tinware, stockings, and curtains. There were also steam saw-mills, diamond and glass polishing works, iron-foundries, and breweries.

Automotive industry

In 1904 the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

plant was founded, followed by the

factory in 1909. In 1932 both brands were incorporated into

but retained their independent trademarks. The Auto Union racing cars, developed by

Ferdinand Porsche Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an Austrian-German automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first gasoline–electric hybrid vehicle (Lohner–Porsche), the Volksw ...

and Robert Eberan von Eberhorst, driven by

Bernd Rosemeyer Bernd Rosemeyer (14 October 1909 – 28 January 1938) was a German racing driver and speed record holder. He is considered one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. Though he was not a member of the Nazi party, he was made a member of the ...

Hans Stuck Hans Stuck (pronounced ''"shtook"''; sometimes called Hans Stuck von Villiez; 27 December 1900 – 9 February 1978) was a German motor racing driver. Both his son Hans-Joachim Stuck (born 1951) and his grandsons Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck be ...

Tazio Nuvolari Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari (; 16 November 1892 – 11 August 1953) was an Italian racing driver. He first raced motorcycles and then concentrated on sports cars and single-seaters. A resident of Mantua, he was known as 'Il Mantovano Volante' ( ...

Ernst von Delius Ernst von Delius (29 March 1912 – 26 July 1937) was a racing driver from Germany. Von Delius died at the age of 25 years at the Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rh ...

, became well known all over the world. During World War II, the Nazi government operated a satellite camp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Zwickau which was sited near the Horch Auto Union plant. The Nazi administration built a hard labour prison camp at Osterstein Castle. Both camps were liberated by the US Army in 1945. On 1 August 1945 military administration was handed over to the Soviet Army. The Auto Union factories of Horch and Audi were dismantled by the Soviets; Auto Union relocated to

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...

, Bavaria, evolving into the present day

company. In 1948 all large companies were seized by the East German government. With the founding of the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

in 1949 in East Germany, post-war reconstruction began. In 1958 the Horch and Audi factories were merged into the

plant. At the Sachsenring automotive plant the compact ''

'' cars were manufactured. These small cars had a two-cylinder, two-stroke engine. The car was the first vehicle in the world to be industrially manufactured with a plastic car body. The former VEB Sachsenring manufacturing site was acquired by

in 1990 and has since been redeveloped as an engine and transmission manufacturing facility. Audi-AG together with the city of Zwickau operates the August Horch Museum in the former Audi works.

Uranium mining

Two major industrial facilities of the Soviet SDAG Wismut were situated in the city: the uranium mill in Zwickau-Crossen, producing uranium concentrate from ores mined in the Erzgebirge and Thuringia, and the machine building plant in Zwickau-Cainsdorf producing equipment for the uranium mines and mills of East Germany. Uranium milling ended in 1989, and after the unification the Wismut machine building plant was sold to a private investor.

Boundaries

Zwickau is bounded by Mülsen, Reinsdorf, Wilkau-Hasslau, Hirschfeld (

Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Kirchberg Municipal associations (german: Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) are statutory corporations or public bodies created by statute in the German federal states of Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, and Schleswig-Holstein. In Baden-Württemberg the term ''stipul ...

Lichtentanne Lichtentanne is a municipality in the district Zwickau, in Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggs ...

Werdau Werdau () is a town in Germany, part of the Landkreis Zwickau (district), Zwickau in Saxony. It is situated on the river Pleiße, 8 km from Zwickau. The town was mentioned as early as 1304, and in 1398 it was purchased by Frederick I, Elect ...

, Neukirchen,

Crimmitschau Crimmitschau () is a town in the district of Zwickau in Saxony, Germany. Geography Crimmitschau lies on the river Pleiße in the northern foothills of the Erzgebirge. Neighboring municipalities Adjacent communities include: Zwickau, Dennherit ...

, Dennheritz (

Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Crimmitschau Municipal associations (german: Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) are statutory corporations or public bodies created by statute in the German federal states of Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, and Schleswig-Holstein. In Baden-Württemberg the term ''stipul ...

) and the city of

Glauchau Glauchau (; hsb, Hłuchow) is a town in the German federal state of Saxony, on the right bank of the Mulde, 7 miles north of Zwickau and 17 miles west of Chemnitz by rail ( its train station is on the Dresden–Werdau line). It is part of the ...

Incorporations

* 1895: Pölbitz * 1902: Marienthal * 1905: Eckersbach * 1922: Weissenborn * 1923: Schedewitz * 1939: Brand and Bockwa * 1944: Oberhohndorf and Planitz * 1953: Auerbach, Pöhlau and Niederhohndorf * 1993: Hartmannsdorf * 1996: Rottmannsdorf * 1996: Crossen (with 4 municipalities on January 1, 1994, Schneppendorf) * 1999: Cainsdorf, Mosel,

Oberrothenbach Oberrothenbach () is a village ('' Ortsteil'') and former municipality in Saxony, Germany. It was incorporated into the municipality of Zwickau in 1999.Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

built a new factory, and Sachsenring is now a supplier for the automobile industry. Nowadays the headquarters of the Volkswagen-Saxony Ltd. (a VW subsidiary) is in the northern part of Zwickau.

Education

Zwickau is home to the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau with about 4700 students and two

campuses A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

within the boundaries of Zwickau. Dr. Martin Luther School (German: Dr. Martin Luther Schule) is a grade 1-4 school of the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Zwickau.

Politics

Mayor and city council

The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was Rainer Eichhorn of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1990 to 2001. The mayor was originally chosen by the city council, but since 1994 has been directly elected.

Dietmar Vettermann Dietmar is a German forename. * Dietmar I (archbishop of Salzburg), ruled 874 to 907 *Dietmar von Aist, Minnesinger from a baronial family of Upper Austria, documented between 1140 and 1171 *Dietmar Bär (born 1961), German actor *Dietmar Bartsch ...

, also of the CDU, served from 2001 until 2008. He was succeeded by Pia Findeiß of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD), who was in office until 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 20 September 2020, with a runoff held on 11 October, at which Constance Arndt (Bürger für Zwickau) was elected. The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 25,267 , 22.0 , 11.7 , 11 , 6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. ...

(AfD) , 25,112 , 21.9 , 13.0 , 11 , 7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 16,853 , 14.7 , 6.5 , 8 , 3 , - , , align=left, Citizens for Zwickau (BfZ) , 12,359 , 10.8 , 1.9 , 5 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 11,726 , 10.2 , 5.3 , 5 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (for ...

(Grüne) , 7,503 , 6.5 , 1.1 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 6,368 , 5.5 , 1.3 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Human Environment Animal Protection (Tier) , 4,181 , 3.6 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, Future Zwickau , 3,266 , 2.8 , New , 1 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Free Voters Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...

(FW) , 1,397 , 1.2 , 1.1 , 0 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Blue #TeamPetry , 897 , 0.8 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 39,514 ! 97.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 876 ! 2.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 40,390 ! 100.0 ! ! 48 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 73,497 ! 55.0 ! 13.8 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
Wahlen in Sachsen

Historical mayors

* 1501–1518: Erasmus Stella * 1518–1530: Hermann Mühlpfort * 1800, 1802, 1804, 1806, 1808, 1810, 1812, 1814: Carl Wilhelm Ferber * 1801, 1803, 1805, 1807, 1809, 1811, 1813, 1815, 1817, 1819: Tobias Hempel * 1816, 1818, 1820, 1822: Christian Gottlieb Haugk * 1821, 1823, 1825, 1826: Carl Heinrich Rappius * 1824 – Christian Heinrich Pinther * 1827–1830: Christian Heinrich Mühlmann, Stadtvogt * 1830–1832: Franz Adolf Marbach * 1832–1860: Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer * 1860–1898: Lothar Streit, from 1874 ''Lord Mayor'' * 1898–1919: Karl Keil * 1919–1934: Richard Holz * 1934–1945: Ewald Dost * 1945: Fritz Weber (acting Lord Mayor) * 1945:

Georg Ulrich Handke Georg Ulrich Handke (born Hanau 22 April 1894: died Berlin 7 September 1962) was a German politician ( Communist party of Germany/Socialist Unity Party of Germany). In 1958 he became one of the 111 members of the Party Central Committee in the ...

(1894-1962) (acting Lord Mayor) * 1945–1949: Paul Müller * 1949–1954: Otto Assmann (1901-1977) * 1954–1958: Otto Schneider * 1958–1969: Gustav Seifried * 1969–1973: Liesbeth Windisch * 1973–1977: Helmut Repmann * 1977–1990: Heiner Fischer (1936-2016) * 1990–2001: Rainer Eichhorn (born 1950) * 2001–2008: Dietmar Vettermann (born 1957) * 2008 – until now Pia Findeiss (born 1956)

Transport

The city is close to the A4 (Dresden-Erfurt) and A72 (Hof-Chemnitz) ''

''s.

is on the Dresden–Werdau line, part of the

Saxon-Franconian trunk line Saxon-Franconian trunk line (german: Sachsen-Franken-Magistrale) is a modern term for a double-track railway route between the German cities of Dresden and Nuremberg. It is 390 kilometres long and currently electrified from Dresden to Hof. The c ...

, connecting

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

and Dresden. There are further railway connections to

as well as

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. It is n ...

and

Cheb Cheb (; german: Eger) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Ohře. Before the 1945 expulsion of the German-speaking population, the town was the centre of the German- ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. The core element of Zwickau's urban public transport system is the Zwickau tramway network; the system is also the prototype of the so-called Zwickau Model for such systems. The closest airport is Leipzig-Altenburg, which has no scheduled commercial flights. The nearest major airports are

Leipzig/Halle Airport Leipzig/Halle Airport (German: ''Flughafen Leipzig/Halle'') is an international airport located in Schkeuditz, Saxony, Germany and serves both Leipzig, Saxony, and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. It is Germany's 14th largest airport by passengers and ...

and

Dresden Airport Dresden Airport is the international airport of Dresden, the state capital of Saxony, Germany. It is located in Klotzsche, a district of Dresden north of the city centre. It was formerly also known in German as ''Flughafen Dresden-Klotzsche''. ...

, both of which offer a large number of national and international flights.

Museums

In the city centre there are three museums: an art museum from the 19th century and the houses of priests from 13th century, both located next to St. Mary's church. Just around the corner there is the Robert-Schumann museum. The museums offer different collections dedicated to the history of the city, as well as art and a mineralogical, palaeontological and geological collection with many specimens from the city and the nearby Ore Mountains. Zwickau is the birthplace of the composer

. The house where he was born in 1810 still stands in the marketplace. This is now called

Robert Schumann House Robert Schumann House is a museum in Zwickau in Germany. The composer Robert Schumann was born here in 1810; it now houses a large collection relating to the composer. Background Three years before the composer was born, Schumann's family moved ...

and is a museum dedicated to him. The histories of the

and

factories are presented at the ''

August Horch Museum Zwickau The August Horch Museum Zwickau is an automobile museum in Zwickau, Saxony, Germany. Opened in 2004, it covers the history of automobile construction in Zwickau, the home of Horch and Audi prior to World War II, and Trabant during the Cold War-era ...

''. The museum is an ''Anchor Point'' of the

European Route of Industrial Heritage The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The ...

(EIRH).

Notable people

Born before 1900

Nicholas Storch Nikolaus Storch (born pre-1500, died after 1536) was a weaver and radical lay-preacher in the Saxon town of Zwickau. He and his followers, known as the Zwickau Prophets, played a brief role during the early German Reformation years in south-east ...

(before 1500 – after 1536), weaver and lay preacher (Zwickau Prophets) * Janus Cornarius (c. 1500–1558), philologist and physicians * Gregor Haloander (1501–1531), jurist * David Köler (1532–1565), musician, organist, choirmaster, composer *

Jacob Leupold Jacob Leupold (22 July 1674 – 12 January 1727) was a German physicist, mathematician, instrument maker, mining commissioner and engineer. He wrote the seminal book ''Theatrum Machinarum Generale'' ("The General Theory of Machines"). Early lif ...

(1674–1727), mechanic and instrument maker *

(1810–1856), composer of the romantic era * Heinrich Schurtz (1863–1903), ethnologist and historian *

August Horch August Horch (12 October 1868 – 3 February 1951) was a German engineer and automobile pioneer, the founder of the manufacturing giant which would eventually become Audi. Beginnings Horch was born in Winningen, Rhenish Prussia. His ini ...

(1868–1952), automotive engineer *

Heinrich Waentig Heinrich Eugen Waentig (21 March 1870 – 22 December 1943) was a German economist and politician. Waentig was born in Zwickau, Saxony. From 1888 to 1893, he studied at University of Munich, University of Berlin, University of Leipzig, and U ...

(1870–1943), economist and politician (SPD) * Hans Dominik (1872–1945), writer, journalist and engineer *

Fritz Bleyl Hilmar Friedrich Wilhelm Bleyl, known as Fritz Bleyl (8 October 1880 – 19 August 1966), was a German artist of the Expressionist school, and one of the four founders of artist group Die Brücke ("The Bridge"). He designed graphics for ...

(1880–1966), expressionist painter and architect *

Max Pechstein Hermann Max Pechstein (31 December 1881 – 29 June 1955) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker and a member of the Die Brücke group. He fought on the Western Front during World War I and his art was classified as Degenerate Ar ...

(1881–1955), expressionist painter * "Margaret Scott" (1888–1973), militant suffragette in London *

Paul Langheinrich Paul Langheinrich (1895–1979) was a German genealogist who saved a large number of German records that might have otherwise been destroyed from 1945 to 1953. His records were the base of the German Records Collection of the Family History Librar ...

(1895–1979), genealogist

Born after 1900

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1982-1123-416, Gerhard Schürer

* Robert Eberan von Eberhorst (1902–1982), Austrian automotive engineer * Gershom Schocken (1912–1990), Israeli journalist and politician *

Gert Fröbe Karl Gerhart "Gert" Fröbe (; 25 February 1913 – 5 September 1988) was a German actor. He was best known in English-speaking countries for his work as Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond film '' Goldfinger'', as Peachum in ''The Threepenny Ope ...

(1913–1988), actor *

Gerhard Schürer Gerhard Schürer (14 April 1921 – 22 December 2010) was a leading politician in East Germany. Between 1963 and 1989 he was a member of the powerful Central Committee of the country's ruling SED (party). He also served, between 1965 and 1989 ...

(1921–2010), politician (SED) *

Rolf Hädrich Rolf Hädrich (24 April 1931 – 29 October 2000) was a German film director and screenwriter. He directed 39 films between 1958 and 1989. His film ''Verspätung in Marienborn'' (US title: ''Stop Train 349'') was entered into the 13th Berlin ...

(1931–2000), film director and screenwriter *

Dieter F. Uchtdorf Dieter Friedrich Uchtdorf (born 6 November 1940) is a German aviator, airline executive and religious leader. He is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Called as an apostl ...

(born 1940), Second Counselor in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

, lived here following World War II *

Harald Fritzsch Harald Fritzsch (born 10 February 1943 in Zwickau, Germany, died 16 August 2022 in München) was a German theoretical physicist known for his contributions to the theory of quarks, the development of Quantum Chromodynamics and the great unific ...

(born 1943), theoretical physicist (quantum theory) *

Volkmar Weiss Volkmar Weiss (born 23 May 1944 in Zwickau, Saxony) is a German researcher and writer, primarily interested in the field of IQ research.